The Cross in My Closet

All this changed when I turned fourteen. Suddenly the quiet peace was shattered by my raucous, rebellious response to the “Adam and Eve Not Ann and Eve“ chanted by my neighbors, teachers, and family. The solace I once felt during prayer became a black hole of hate; instead of listening for words of kindness, instead of finding serenity, I spit in the faces of my family, friends, and religion. Hoping to purge my body of its new found, fiery anger, I turned to a priest who told me there could be no salvation: “man shall not lie with man…it is an abomination“. The calming repetitions of Hail Marys and Glory Bes mixed with the damning words of my priest; I slammed the door on what was once an important part of my life. After all, when “God Hates Fags“, isn’t that what I was supposed to do. Set my cross on fire, wall it up in my closet, and forget it ever existed. [excerpt

Orange Is the New Golgotha

The Roman soldiers jeered at Jesus, called him towelhead and sand monkey, ripped off his garments and clad him in an orange jumpsuit. Then they pulled a black sack over his head and led him to an interrogation cell, where CIA operatives awaited him. They shackled Jesus\u27s wrists and strung him up so that he dangled from the ceiling. One of them questioned him, and when his responses weren\u27t to their liking, the other beat him. [excerpt

Snark Wars

The latest volley in the war of words waged by cultured despisers of Christianity was fired on Christmas Day. Celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of the television series Cosmos, bushwhacked Christians with this tweeted broadside: On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642. Not content with just one shot, Tyson let fly again. Merry Christmas to all, he tweeted. A Pagan holiday (BC) becomes a Religious holiday (AD). Which then becomes a Shopping holiday (USA). Then, the coup de grace. QUESTION: This year, what do all the world\u27s Muslims and Jews call December 25th? ANSWER: Thursday. [excerpt

Gushee, D. P., & Stassen, G. H.\u27s Kingdom ethics: Following Jesus in contemporary context (2nd ed.) (Book Review)

Gushee, D. P., & Stassen, G. H. (2016). Kingdom ethics: Following Jesus in contemporary context (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 550 pp. $40.00. ISBN 978080287421

Faith Matters: Reflections on the Christian Life

In a day in which Christians too often reduce faith to mere sentimentality and atheists decry it as superstitious nonsense, Fr. Kerry Walters offers a series of reflections intended to show that, indeed, faith matters. Drawn from his popular weekly newspaper column “Faith Matters,” these short meditations explore Christian faith from the perspectives of doctrine, spirituality, ethics, politics, art and science, the saints, and the holy seasons that mark the Christian year and set the rhythm of Christian living.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/books/1155/thumbnail.jp

The Necessary Right of Choice for Physician-Assisted Suicide

Research-based paper on the importance of the right for terminally ill patients facing a painful death to be able to choose how they end their lif